You may be thinking, “What in the world are ism,s?”  or "What is he talking about?".  Let me explain. Ism’s are the suffixes used to denote a doctrine or belief system like Communism. There are many ism’s in this country that affect the way people think and most of them are harmful to us because they hinder truth. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines ism this way: a practice or process; a doctrine, theory; adherence to a system.

The first ism I want to deal with is intellectualism. A very intelligent person will often elevate his mind and intelligence above the Word of God when dealing with an issue. For example, I once had a heated discussion with a very intelligent Christian friend about abortion and it focused upon the question of when life begins. When I pointed out that Psalm 139 clearly shows that life begins with conception, his response was, “But who wrote that psalm?”, implying that it was only man’s thoughts. My reply was, “The Holy Spirit” and I quoted II Tim. 3:16 - “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine (or teaching).

Here is Psalm 139 from the Amplified Bible: VS 13 - For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb. VS 14 - I will praise you . . . For the awful wonder of my birth . . . ; VS 15 - My frame (bones) was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret . . .VS 16 - Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

My friend then said he was against abortion but believed in a woman’s “right to choose”. He contended that the choice to give birth or abort was up to the woman and her physician; thus ignoring God‘s opinion in Ps.139. What about the baby’s “right to choose”? Even our God given Declaration of Independence says “We hold these truths to be self-evident , that all men (does this include unborn babies?) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, (Right to Life?) Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”

In the case of a “born alive” baby in a botched abortion, he said that the physician should determine if the baby was “viable” before deciding to give it medical attention. These words, “choice” and “viable” are overused clichés that cloud the truth and Intellectualism can blind you to the truth.

Now we are going to have to rely on Webster again for the definition of the word, Viable: 1)Born Alive with such form and development of organs as to be normally capable of living 2)Capable of growing and developing (such as seeds and eggs) [Could you also say sperm and eggs here?] What ever happened to the Hippocratic oath, “Do no harm”?

I insisted that no baby is “viable” outside the mother’s womb without someone nurturing it and feeding it. Note: I hate the use of the word, “it” in reference to a baby but without disclosure of the sex of a baby I will use it out of convenience.

There is another ism I would like to discuss and its “relativism”. That is the description of what takes place when you use your own opinion instead of obeying the Word of God because you think it depends upon the situation. God believes in absolute truth not relativism. The serpent used relativism on Eve in the Garden of Eden when he said, “Hath God said, you shall not eat of that tree?”.

Following are some other ism’s that can become contrary to the Word of God: (Note: some are definitely contrary to God while others are not, in and of themselves contrary. Any ism can become so when its doctrines are relied upon more than the Word itself). I’ll just name a few: Socialism, Atheism, Capitalism, Presbyterianism, Christianism vs. Christianity, Catholicism, Mormonism, Marxism, Muslimism, and, the one practiced most in this country, Liberalism. When the doctrines of the ism’s are trusted more than the Word of God they become idols and Idolatry is a serious sin.

The result of following some of these ism’s is the killing of 40 million babies in their mothers’ wombs since Roe V Wade in 1973. Is it any wonder that the 60’s crowd is now worried that there won’t be enough money to fund their Social Security benefits when they retire? Duh! They killed 40 million Americans whose potential incomes could have easily funded their Social Security. Besides the tragic ending of 40 million lives, the economics of it is just plain stupid. God help us!

Glory to God,

Hal Mitchell - halmitch@cox.net